


Way Too Long

by SquigglyAverageJoe



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Coming Out, Grieving, Past Character Death, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:34:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,043
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24483613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SquigglyAverageJoe/pseuds/SquigglyAverageJoe
Summary: Blue is impatient, quick to anger, and very, very gay—he fears he is twice as gay as Vio, when he originally thought Vio was the most gay out of all of them. Struggling with his relationship with Red, Blue tries to understand his gayer than usual feelings for one other member on their team, while working on the strained relationship he has with a grieving Vio.(I FINALLY made the story I’ve been wanting to for one oof my most favorite ships and it only took me WAY TOO LONG. Decided to work on this now because it’s June and what the hell else am I gonna do in quarantine? Anyway, enjoy the gay.)
Relationships: Blue Link & Green Link & Red Link & Vio Link, Blue Link/Green Link/Red Link, Shadow Link/Vio Link
Comments: 2
Kudos: 32





	1. Chapter 1

Even when he doesn’t mean to, Blue usually finds himself slamming doors.

He honestly doesn’t mean to—he grabs the door knob, pulls it shut, but keeps walking as he enters the room and he lets go, and the door shuts loudly, always.

This time, however, he had meant to slam the door—well, he didn’t really mean to. He hadn’t walked up to the door and thought, “I’m gonna slam that so everyone in the hallway knows that I am angry.” He didn’t do that, but he assumed, if he walked away from a door without cringing over the loud noise it had made or wondering why he had done that, he assumed he had meant to.

He frowns, clenches his fist, unclenches his fist. Then he clenches his fist again. It achieves absolutely nothing.

He’s been getting more and more angry lately—at Vio, for being obvious about his grief and making it just as obvious that there was nothing they could do. At Green, for being objectively attractive. At Red, for obviously thinking Green was objectively attractive. Mostly, at Red.

They had been in this relationship for six months! That’s half a year! Blue’s head over heels in love with Red, but the way Red sometimes looks at Green...It makes him think...

He isn’t used to whatever emotion he feels, so he assumes that it, like most of the other emotions he feels, is anger. What else would it be? He’s worried Red isn’t interested in him anymore, that’s pretty angry-worthy.

But he isn’t sure about that. Sometimes, he thinks, for sure, Red loves him—with the way he smiled, the way his eyes lit up, the way he always squeezed his hand and the gentle, sweet pecks on the mouth Red gave him. Blue liked that, he wants that! He wants to cup his face and lean forward until their noses are touching...He wants to tuck a strand of hair behind his ear...He wants to stroke his cheek and kiss his hand. Sometimes, Red looked so perfect to him, he felt his heart skip a beat and felt his eyes water—as if every part of him wanted to be closer to Red.

But Red’s a terrible liar—when Blue had accused him, in the kitchen, while he was baking, of being attracted to Green, Red had tried to deny it, but the look in his eyes said it all—Blue had been right.

Being right hurts. He leans against the door and tilts his head back, staring at the ceiling before slowly lowering himself to the ground, his back dragging against the door. He knows he shares this room with Red, and he would never lock Red out of his room, but he needs to be alone right now—because he’s never felt more prone to anger, and he knows he can’t control his mouth when he’s angry, and he fears one day, Red won’t be so forgiving, won’t be so understanding, and what then?

He can feel his eyes water again—he wipes at them with the heel of his palm before they even have a chance of falling. He had cried when they thought Green was dead (twice) and when they were about to put the sword back (which had worked, and then as Link walked hand in hand with Princess Zelda, obviously about to tell her all that had happened and go back to living a normal life as a knight, always by Zelda’s side, the sword launched itself out of the stone it was in and fell on the ground. Zelda had described it as Link “flickering and fading” before being replaced with them. There had been a very awkward silence before Zelda just looked a the sword and said, “What was that?” As if the sword was about to respond.) and he wasn’t about to do it anymore. It had sucked—it just made his face warm and wet, his nose run and he always got a headache afterwards. He isn’t about to do it now, even as it seems like Red and his relationship is crumbling around them.

There’s a knock on the door. “Blue.” That’s not Red, but he opens the door anyway. He hasn’t seen much of Vio recently, and if Vio’s knocking at his door right now, he must need something. He may be an obnoxious, irritating smart ass, but Blue does care about him.

He opens the door—Vio stands in the hallway. He looks tired, but Blue’s just glad he’s alive—with how he shambled about the house, it made it difficult to tell. “What?”

“I heard you and Red fighting,” he says. “And wanted to check on you.”

Blue crosses his arms over his chest. “It’s not any of your business, Vio.”

“Okay then, if you don’t want to talk, I’ll just go back to my room and—“ Before he can even finish his sentence (because Vio knows this always works on him), Blue grabs his sleeve. Vio turns his head to look at him flatly.

“...I don’t know how to talk about it because I don’t know how to feel.” He lets go and crosses his arms again. He feels so uncomfortable, he wonders if his arms can form some sort of wall to protect him.

“Well, I don’t think it matters too much about how you think you should feel, what really matters is how you’re currently feeling.” Vio sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “Come on,” he says. “Let’s go to my room—it has more privacy.”

Blue—feeling slightly defeated—follows him into his bedroom.

Vio’s bedroom is cluttered. It feels kind of cozy, but Blue has to avoid looking at his desk, littered with papers and books and so, so messy. Vio is so determined to find something, says that something important could be in any one of the numerous books he gets from the library, but what if that important something gets lost in the clutter? Then where will Vio be, but driving himself crazy in his bedroom?

Vio sits cross legged on the floor and looks at him. Blue drops across from him, still with his arms crossed. “What was it this time?”

He says it like they fight nonstop, like it’s expected and it terrifies him. He knows they’d been fighting more than usual, with their usual being a small, usually playful argument once a month, but he doesn’t think it’s that much. “...I think this has been out worst yet,” he says. He looks at his knee. “I caught him staring at Green...A lot. And they were talking earlier, but it sounded really...flirty.”

Vio shrugs. If he had tea right now, he’d probably sip it. “You know Green knows you and Red are together. He’d never make a move on him while you’re dating him.”

“Well, I know that!” Blue exclaims. “And Red knows that, and I know Red wouldn’t ever actually cheat on me or anything, and definitely not with Green, but...He was really staring! In like, all the places he shouldn’t be! Like, Red’s dating me, but he doesn’t stare at me that way!”

“It’s totally normal for people to admire other people they aren’t in a relationship with. It’s natural—how many times have you walked into Castle Town and a boy catches your eye?”

Blue flushes. “A...A few times? But still.”

“Let’s be honest here, Blue—Green is very attractive. Red might have noticed. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t have an interest in you. It’s normal to be interested in someone while dating someone else. Green’s attractive, Red just noticed.”

Blue crosses his arms tighter. “I...I’m attractive too!”

“I know Red thinks so,” Vio says. “Yesterday, he wouldn’t stop talking about how great you are, how you’re so good to him and he just loves it when you’re so gentle with him and he wants you to pick him up and never place him back down.” Blue blushes. “Do you really think Red wants to leave you?”

“Well, yeah. And...I asked him about it, but he denied it! Said he hadn’t been!”

“Maybe he wasn’t,” Vio says.

“But I’ve seen him. Multiple times! He could have admitted it!”

“Maybe he was scared.” If Vio had tea, Blue knows he’d be circling the rim of his cup with his finger. “He doesn’t like upsetting you. He wants you to be happy.”

Blue sighs. “...I worry I’m too possessive. I know I’ve been ranting about how I hate it when Red looks at Green, but...I worry one of these days he’s just going to get fed up and leave me, and it makes me so...angry.”

Vio nods. “Well...I don’t really notice much in the way Green and Red interact. It’s not any different from how Green treats you. You and Green have always kind of had a weird rivalry going on. Maybe you’re worried about him specifically because you view him as competition, and worry that if he is better than you in any way, he’ll ‘beat’ you and somehow have Red’s affections instead of you.”

“He’s not better than me.” It’s a mutter, but it is true—he’s viewed Green as an equal for a long, long time—he’s pretty sure. He loves sparring with him and even though he despises losing, he minds losing to Green the least out of the three other members of the team. Him and Vio were always bickering, and Red always taunted him before their sparring, withholding kisses from Blue unless he could beat him and Blue would pin him to the ground and kiss him until neither of them could breathe...He was pretty sure Red let him win most of the time, but he had always been too busy kissing to care or call him out.

Vio shrugs. “I’m just saying, Blue—if you think that the way Green acts around Red is flirty, then he has the biggest, gayest crush on you.”

Blue decides Vio’s not as helpful as he had wanted—he’s not sure what he was expecting; for Vio to immediately have every answer he could ever want, he supposes. To tell him exactly what he should do, but he also would hate Vio telling him what to do. Maybe he just wants Vio to get out of his room some more—maybe he just wants Vio to come out and smile a little more often. He wasn’t the type to be all laughter and smiles and just a bright ball of sunshine like Red—but this wasn’t like him.

He sighs and stands. “Well, thanks, Vio,” he says, but he doesn’t think he’s as grateful as he should be. “I’m gonna go talk to Red.”

“Alright,” Vio says. He grabs a book off of a desk, but doesn’t move from where he sits on the floor. “I’ll be in here.” Like he always is.

He finds Red out in the living room with Green—his arm is around is shoulder and Red is sniffling, his eyes behind his hands. Green is comforting him. His boyfriend.

He sighs and sits down beside Red. Green notices him. “Hey,” he says softly to Red while he rubs at his eyes with his sleeve—it’s so unhygienic, Blue cringes, but now’s not the time to chide Red for hygiene. “I’m gonna go in the kitchen.” He glances at Blue and walks into the kitchen like he says—leaving them alone.

Red sniffs again and looks at him. “I-I’m sorry, Blue, I...” He chokes out a sob. “I really am! I just...We’re...Green and I, I mean—Blue, we’re dating!” He cries. “I wouldn’t ever—“ He sobs again.

“Hey.” Blue cups his cheek. “It’s okay, Red, I...” They lock eyes and Red leans into his hand. Blue read about this in a romance novel he’s ashamed to say he read. “I overreacted. Okay? I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, I just...You know I love you, right?”

Red nods. “I’m sorry! I-I love you too, I just...I didn’t think...Please don’t be mad, you know I’m dating you, I won’t...”

He pulls Red closer—his body is just smaller than his, warm and, in Blue’s arms, tightly pressed against him, snug against his. He kisses his temple. “It’s not your fault, Red, it’s...it’s mine.” Red sobs into his shoulder. “Oh, Red, please stop crying.” Oh, fucking hell, he hates it when Red cries. He could hold Red tight forever and ever, but he can’t stand to see him upset anymore—after everything, crying feels like it must be conserved for death and death only. That’s not gonna happen with Red—Red once cried because a deer was just too damn cute. And it’s not like he wants Red to stop crying, he knows Red’s just expressing his emotions through his own way, while Blue expressed it through fucking butchering training dummies. It was how it worked! He kisses Red’s temple, his cheek, his other cheek. “I’m sorry.”

“You can quit apologizing!” Red sobs. “It’s...” He sniffs and rubs at his eyes, avoiding Blue’s. He always does when they fight—because when they lock eyes, Red smiles, no matter what. “...I...I worry sometimes,” he says. “That we...That we-re a bad match. We’re not a bad match, right?”

He pulls Red closer. “We’re not, Red,” he says, but he is really saying it to calm himself down just as much to calm Red down. “We’re not, Red. We’re not.” Red continues to cry into his shoulder while they make up—Blue rests his chin on the top of his head and he keeps murmuring sweet nothings. He loves Red and they’re not a bad match.

They can’t be. He cannot let some weird jealousy drive him away from his team. That is the last thing he needs right now.


	2. Chapter 2

_Oh no._ Vio looks up from his book—it’s just some fantasy novel, and he feels kind of guilty for not continuing to read up on the Dark Mirror and try to find a way to bring Shadow back, but he really needs a break, Shadow understands that, right?—and at the door. He can hear footsteps, quiet, slow. Definitely not Blue, but— _oh no._

He can’t remember the last time he got to take a break, the last time he convinced himself to take one, but now—

There’s a quiet knock at the door—he sighs. Definitely not Blue. “Come in,” he says, but he flips the page anyway—he knows the minute Red enters, he’s gonna focus all of his attention onto him, and then he’s gonna need to quit reading, and his break will be over, because then he needs to get back to trying to find something, because Shadow needs to be back, he needs to come back _soon._ Not even soon—he needed Shadow _yesterday._

_But it’s not his fault,_ Vio reminds himself. _This isn’t anyone’s fault, Shadow’s just...He’ll be back and then I can..._ He realizes this is his fault. He should have found another way! They could have helped Shadow to find some other way to take Vaati down, but now, instead, he’s trying to find a way to bring Shadow back, he should still be here—

Red enters slowly. He’s holding a tray. He looks at Vio and holds it out. “...Tea?”

“Tea sounds great, thanks Red.” Red smiles and sits down on the floor, sitting across from Vio and placing it in between them.

“So...” He says. “Is there a reason you’re on the floor?”

There is—the reason is just way too humiliating to say. “No, I just like the floor.” Red nods, so Vio adds. “It’s a gay thing. Treating things that aren’t furniture like furniture.”

Red nods. “Did Shadow do that?”

“To the extremes,” Vio responds, and he can’t help but to smile now that he’s thinking about Shadow. “He laid on the stairs, leaned up against the wall, would hang off of chairs, lay down on table tops...” Goddesses, it had made Shadow entertaining. “He liked to sleep on the floor.”

“Wow,” Red says, the most empathetic of them all. “You must really miss him.”

_Like you wouldn’t believe._ He takes a deep breath, swallows and changes the subject—this isn’t about him. “You’re here because of your fight with Blue?”

Red looks at the floor. “I...I think he’s still mad at me.”

“He didn’t seem very mad at you earlier, when he was kissing you. In the middle of the living room like there was no tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but...” Red sighs. “...You know I love him, right? Because I know I love him, I just...” He swallows, the gulp audible in the quiet of Vio’s bedroom. “...I don’t know. I don’t...” He brushes a hand through his hair. “...I mean, I kind of like it when Blue gets jealous, you know? I...I like it when he’s more...open about our relationship and when he doesn’t just keep it to holding my hand. I don’t really ask for much! It’s...It’s not fair that I get more physical contact from Green then my boyfriend!”

“You could just tell Blue you want more physical contact,” Vio says. “He’s not a prude.”

“I know! But...sometimes I’m about to tell him, and then he gives me physical contact. Like, it’s what I want! He’s very aggressive when he cuddles. It’s...weird. ...He’s kind of possessive, and I think I like it, but if he’s so possessive, why does he like...” He sighs, shakes his head, frustrated. “I don’t understand. Maybe that’s why I’m ...whatever with Green, because... Oh, I don’t know, Vio, none of this makes any sense to me!”

Vio tries to think. “Well...I’ll tell you what I told Blue—it’s normal for people in relationships to find other people attractive. Just because you find someone else attractive, and might be attracted, isn’t the equivalent of cheating on your boyfriend. Blue likely does the same, it’s probably just that your attraction to Green specifically is what’s bothering him. Have you just considered telling Blue you like physical contact?”

“Yeah...But now I’m starting to wonder if maybe it’s just something I like with Green. ...That’s a normal friendship thing, right?”

Vio shrugs. “If you think it’s platonic.”

“...It _is_ platonic, right?”

“If both you and Green agree it’s platonic, then yes.”

“...But I’m not sure if we agree it’s platonic!” Red says.

Vio sighs. “Then maybe it’s not.”

“Okay.” Red wipes his palms on his tights. “What do I do if it’s not?”

“...Well, first of all...” Vio starts slowly—he doesn’t like what he’s saying, but the others come to him for answers. He can’t hold out on them. “I would make absolute sure if my feelings were platonic or not.” He swallows, but he’s a bit quieter than Red’s. He sighs. “And then I would tell Blue.”

Red’s eyes widen. “I...” He thinks he’s about to say he doesn’t want to. He thinks Red’s going to back out, leave and pretend this conversation never happened, never to bring it up with Blue ever. But instead he says, his voice small, a whisper, his hand over his mouth and eyes wide. “I don’t want to lie to him.”

Vio feels sick. Who would ever want to lie to someone they love? Someone who values honesty so much, almost as much as you? Because Blue was so obviously in love with Red, and he didn’t want to watch Red do something stupid that was gonna hurt them both in the long run—and with that line of logic, Vio almost completely forgot that he and Red were almost nothing alike. Red thought with his heart, not his head. “Then don’t,” Vio says.

Red nods. “...Do you think he’ll break up with me?”

Vio isn’t sure—he thinks, if someone he was in a relationship with, were to be actually romantically interested in someone else and were to be that close, possibly more interested in that person than him or just as much—he might want to break up with them, maybe in the way that he wants to think relationships should be like that. Entirely romantically interested in your partner, a seamless relationship that goes on for a couple years before marriage. He isn’t sure—he hasn’t been in a relationship. And Blue is kind of possessive in Red, in small, weird ways. But he doesn’t know if Blue will be angry, or if he’ll get more possessive of Red, or if he’ll just think Red wants someone else. He supposes, if Blue does get angry, he might break up with him, if he’s really, truly angry. Or maybe it’d be something to talk about, come to understand and work out. He doesn’t know. No books he’s read have talked about falling in love with someone else. “If you think about that too much, you might change your mind about telling him,” he says instead. Red nods. “You should be entirely honest with him. Maybe you are into Green.”

“...But I still love Blue?” Red says. “How does that work?” Vio doesn’t know how to answer. “...Vio. Does...this make me a bad person?”

“No,” Vio says. “It just means you’re...” He frowns—he actually doesn’t know what this means. “Dumb, I guess.”

“Because I might be in love with two people at the same time?”

“Being in love makes you stupid, Red.” He pats him on the head. “That’s how it works, Red. Just one person makes you dumb.”

Red nods. Vio sips his tea. “I bet the fact that I’m with Blue doesn’t help.” Vio chokes. Red throws his head back in a laugh. “I hang out with you too much.”

“You do. But, let’s face it—it’s totally true.” Yep. Blue’s stupid—but he’s also aggressively loyal and his heart is usually in the right place. That makes up for his tendency to not think before acting and to never think things through.

Red wipes at his eyes. “I’m going to go talk to Blue, then.”

“Alright. You do that.” Vio isn’t sure how to support him. Red gets to his feet and walks out.

Vio wonders if being a hypocrite makes him a bad person.

Blue doesn’t know why he chose to take over cooking dinner tonight, but he can’t find Red anywhere. He chops the onion carefully and _almost_ rubs at his eyes. That would have been bad. The door to the kitchen opens. “Hey, Red—what the hell am I even making anyway?”

“Guess again.” He turns. “Oh, Green.”

Green gives him a small smile—yep. Very attractive. But he’s Red’s boyfriend. “So, um...You and Red.”

“Yeah?”

“...I’m sorry,” he says. “If I like...Bothered you, with...” He clears his throat. “I know you and Red are dating. I don’t want to do anything to come between that. I’m sorry.”

“It’s cool,” he says. “I’ll be honest with you, I know I can be kind of...possessive over Red. Just because the two of you hang out sometimes doesn’t mean you’re like...trying to steal him away from me.”

“Right. Good. I just didn’t want you to be like...” He makes a vague gesture. “Right.” The silence is awkward.

“Glad we worked this out,” Blue says. He swallows.

“Just for the record,” Green says. “I...I think the two of you make a great couple.”

Blue smiles. “Yeah?”

“He loves you. A lot. I wouldn’t...I wouldn’t ever want to come in between that.” Green smiles at him, bright and kind, friendly... “Never would have guessed you’d make such a good boyfriend.”

Blue’s own smile turns into a grin. “Yeah, you _wish_ you had a boyfriend as good as me.” Green chuckles—the door opens. “Hey, Red.”

“Blue...” His voice is small. That grabs his attention—his shoulders are hunched over a bit, he isn’t looking Blue in the eye, his own all glassy. There’s a pit in Blue’s stomach, and immediately—he knows everything that is going to happen in the next five minutes from the look in his eyes alone. “I think we need to talk.”


End file.
